Relay-type goods picking system and method

ABSTRACT

Provided is a relay goods picking system, the system includes: a plurality of carrying robots, a manual picking area, auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking which store goods for manual picking, a robot picking inventory container area provided with a plurality of inventory containers used for storing goods and being carried by the plurality of carrying robots, operating positions and a control system capable of communicating with the plurality of carrying robots and manual picking persons. For a mixed order which involves both goods in the manual picking area and goods in the robot picking rack area, under control of the control system, a person-to-goods picking mode and a goods-to-person picking mode are used to complete the goods picking.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 16/495,076, entitled “RELAY-TYPE GOODS PICKINGSYSTEM AND METHOD” and filed on Sep. 17, 2021, which claims priority toInternational Patent Application No. PCT/CN2017/091443 entitled“RELAY-TYPE GOODS PICKING SYSTEM AND METHOD” and filed on Jul. 3, 2017,the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to logistics and warehousingtechnologies and in particular, relates to a relay-type goods pickingmethod and a relay-type goods picking system in the field of e-commerce,a computing device and a computer-readable storage medium.

BACKGROUND

The rapid development of e-commerce and online shopping has brought anopportunity for the logistics and warehousing industry to rise rapidlyand an unprecedented challenge to the logistics and warehousingindustry. Manual picking refers to that a picker completes a pickingoperation with a picking task list (which may be papers, IPADs, voices,VR media etc.). The manual picking is a picking manner with lowest costsin the logistics and warehousing industry. The advantage of this manneris low hardware costs in a warehousing operating center, and the numberof pickers can be increased when picking tasks are increased to improvea system shipping capacity. A biggest disadvantage of this manner isthat information on types and numbers of items at goods positions in awarehousing system is unsynchronized with information on types andnumbers of items in actual goods positions. To further improve pickingefficiency, reduce time from an order for goods to delivering the goodsand reduce a labor burden, a goods-to-person mode which uses anautomatic robot picking system is an effective mode. The goods-to-personmode is based on an intelligent carrying robot. The robot automaticallydrives to a position directly below a target rack, lifts the target rackand sends the target rack to a sorting position according to orderdemands and inventory information. The picking position is equipped witha display device such as a display screen. The display device promptsposition information of goods required in a delivery order. According tothe prompt, a sorting person gets the required goods from the targetrack and puts the required goods into a specified container to completea sorting task. After the sorting task is finished, the robot sends thetarget rack back to a specified position. The above goods-to-person modedoes not require personnel to move around in the whole process, therebygreatly improving the sorting efficiency and reducing labor intensity.

A manual picking mode and a robot-based goods-to-person picking modeboth have advantages and disadvantages. How to combine the two pickingmodes and give full play to the advantages of the two picking modes toimprove picking efficiency of an overall solution is a major issue to besolved urgently.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is proposed in view of the above circumstances.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a relay-type goodspicking system is provided. The system includes a plurality of carryingrobots capable of lifting and transporting racks; a manual picking rackarea, configured to store goods for manual picking; auxiliary pickuptools for manual goods picking, which accommodate containers and areconvenient for manual driving or transportation, where a back-end systemis operable to bind each auxiliary pickup tool for manual goods pickingwith a container accommodated by the each auxiliary pickup tool formanual goods picking and corresponding order information; a robotpicking rack area provided with a plurality of racks and used forstoring goods and being carried by the plurality of carrying robots,where in the robot picking rack area, the plurality of racks arearranged in a rack array with a plurality of rows and a plurality ofcolumns, and empty rows/columns constitute channels for the plurality ofcarrying robots to pass; an operating position to which one of theplurality of carrying robots carries a rack of the plurality of racksand at which goods are picked from or restocked onto the rack by apicker; and a control system capable of communicating with the pluralityof carrying robots and persons for manual picking and controlling orderallocation, rack carrying and goods picking. Under control of thecontrol system, a person-to-goods picking mode and a goods-to-personpicking mode are used in series to complete the goods picking for amixed order in a relay manner, where the mixed order involves both goodsin the manual picking rack area and goods in the robot picking rackarea, where the person-to-goods picking mode is used to complete pickingfor the goods in the manual picking rack area and the goods-to-personpicking mode is used to complete picking for the goods in the robotpicking rack area.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, provided is arelay-type goods picking method executed by the relay-type goods pickingsystem described above. The method includes: under control of thecontrol system, a person-to-goods picking mode and a goods-to-personpicking mode are used in series to complete the goods picking for amixed order in a relay manner, where the mixed order involves both goodsin the manual picking rack area and goods in the robot picking rackarea, where the person-to-goods picking mode is used to complete pickingfor the goods in the manual picking rack area and the goods-to-personpicking mode is used to complete picking for the goods in the robotpicking rack area.

With the relay-type goods picking system and the relay-type goodspicking method according to embodiments of the present disclosure,driven by data in whole, the goods picking is performed in the relaymanner (manual picking and then robot-based goods-to-person picking, orthe robot-based goods-to-person picking and then the manual picking),which combines the advantages of the manual picking and the robot-basedgoods-to-person picking and improves the picking efficiency of theoverall solution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present disclosure willbecome more apparent and easily understood from the following detaileddescription of embodiments of the present disclosure in connection withthe drawings. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 illustrates a goods picking system 100 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a pickup cart as an example of an auxiliary pickuptool for manual goods picking;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a seeding wall; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an overall flowchart of a relay-type goods pickingmethod 400 in which person-to-goods picking is performed beforegoods-to-person picking according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For a better understanding of the present disclosure by those skilled inthe art, the present disclosure will be described in further detailbelow in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, provided is arelay-type goods picking system. The system includes a plurality ofcarrying robots, a manual picking rack area, auxiliary pickup tools formanual goods picking, a robot picking rack area, an operating positionand a control system. The carrying robots are capable of lifting andtransporting racks. The manual picking rack area is provided with aplurality of manual picking racks which stores goods for manual picking,each manual picking rack has a unique number, and information onpositions of the manual picking racks and information on identifiers andquantities of goods at the positions are stored in the control system.The auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking accommodatecontainers and are convenient for manual driving or transportation. Aback-end system is operable to bind each auxiliary pickup tool formanual goods picking with a container accommodated by the each auxiliarypickup tool for manual goods picking and corresponding orderinformation. The robot picking rack area is provided with a plurality ofracks used for storing goods and being carried by the carrying robots.In the robot picking rack area, the plurality of racks are arranged in arack array with a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, andempty rows/columns constitute channels for the carrying robots to pass.The carrying robot carries the racks to the operating position wheregoods are picked from or restocked onto the rack by a picker. Thecontrol system is configured to classify orders into a manual pickingorder, a goods-to-person picking order and a mixed order. The manualpicking order only involves the goods in the manual picking rack area,the goods-to-person picking order merely involves the goods in the robotpicking rack area, and the mixed order involves both the goods in themanual picking rack area and the goods in the robot picking rack area.For the mixed order, under control of the control system, aperson-to-goods picking mode and a goods-to-person picking mode are usedin series to complete the goods picking for a mixed order in a relaymanner, where the person-to-goods picking mode is used to completepicking for the goods in the manual picking rack area and thegoods-to-person picking mode is used to complete picking for the goodsin the robot picking rack area.

FIG. 1 illustrates a goods picking system 100 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. The goods picking system 100 includes acontrol system 10, carrying robots 20, operating positions 50, a manualpicking rack area 30, a robot picking rack area 40 and auxiliary pickuptools for manual goods picking 60.

The manual picking rack area 30 is configured to store the goods for themanual picking. In one example, popular merchandise (merchandisefrequently placed in orders) in a sales season or a promotion period isstored in the manual picking rack area 30. If the popular merchandise isplaced in the robot picking rack area and picked in the goods-to-personmode, the following operations need to be frequently performed: carryingracks to the operating position, picking goods and carrying the racksback to the rack area. For the popular merchandise, a manual pickingmode is adopted without carrying racks and can pick various kinds ofpopular merchandise for multiple orders at one time, which has higherefficiency than the goods-to-person picking mode.

The robot picking rack area 40 is provided with the plurality of racksused for storing goods and being carried by the carrying robots 20. Inthe robot picking rack area, the racks are arranged in the rack arraywith the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns, and the emptyrows/columns constitute the channels for the carrying robots to pass.

In an example shown in FIG. 1 , the manual picking rack area 30 isprovided with the plurality of manual picking racks which stores thegoods for manual picking, each manual picking rack has a unique number,and information on the positions of the manual picking racks andinformation on the identifiers and quantities of the goods at thepositions are stored in the control system.

The auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking 60 accommodate thecontainers and are convenient for manual driving or transportation. Theback-end system (e.g. the control system) is operable to bind eachauxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking with a containeraccommodated by the each auxiliary pickup tool for manual goods pickingand the corresponding order information. For example, when orders areallocated, the orders are bound with the container; when the containeris placed in the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking, thecontainer is bound with the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goodspicking; in this way, each auxiliary pickup tool for manual goodspicking is bound with the accommodated containers and the correspondingorder information. Therefore, a back-end operating system can planoptimal traveling and picking paths for picking persons according to thebound information and information on positions in the manual pickingrack area and corresponding goods. Hereinafter, the containers aresometimes referred to as bins.

Examples of the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking 60include a pickup cart, a pallet truck with trays, a table trolley andthe like. FIG. 2 illustrates a pickup cart as an example of an auxiliarypickup tool for manual goods picking.

In one example, the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking areattached with a picking order indication tool for indicating how to pickgoods for manual picking in the order. In one example, the picking orderindication tool may be a paper picking order or a paperless pickingorder (such as RF, an IPad and a mobile phone).

Preferably, when the picking person performs picking in the manualpicking rack area with the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goodspicking, information on associated racks, positions of the associatedrack and goods at the positions is updated in real time as the pickingis performed, for example, picking completion information of goods onthe paperless picking order is manually triggered. For example, if thepaperless picking order indicates that one of a certain book is pickedfrom a certain position of a certain rack, input information in a voiceor touch manner after completion to indicate that the picking isfinished, and thus the system updates the states (such as quantities) ofthe goods at positions of related racks.

The carrying robots 20 move in the robot picking rack area, an areabetween the robot picking rack area and the operating positions and inother areas. The carrying robots 20 can lift and transport the racks 32and perform goods picking tasks under the control of the control system10. For example, the carrying robots 20 may drive in an empty space 60(part of the channels for the carrying robots to pass) in the rack arrayto below a target rack 30, lift the target rack 32 and carry the targetrack 30 to an assigned operating position 50. Preferably, each carryingrobot has a lifting mechanism, a camera and a communication component,and has an autonomous navigation function. The carrying robotscommunicate with a control system via the communication component, andmay even communicate with other carrying robots. The carrying robots canknow their positions and move forward according to two-dimensional codeson the ground taken by the cameras, can drive to below the racks andlift the racks with the lifting mechanisms.

In one example, each rack 32 is a cuboid frame with a plurality oflayers for placing goods. The racks are carried by the carrying robots20 and pickers pick goods from the racks. A bottom of each rack has foursymmetrical rack legs whose heights are larger than a height of eachcarrying robot. The carrying robots are allowed to pass through thebottom of the racks. Each layer of the racks also has a correspondingtag for identification. In one example, the bottom of each rack has atwo-dimensional code for the carrying robots to identify, and thetwo-dimensional code of each rack has uniqueness. As many types of goodsare placed on each rack as possible to enable each rack to cover as manyorders as possible and reduce times of carrying the racks.

The operating positions 50 are places for pickers to perform pickingoperations in a goods-to-person picking case. The carrying robots 20carry the racks 32 to the operating positions 50 for pickers 80 (pickingpersons or robots) to pick goods from the racks 32 or restock goods ontothe racks 32.

The control system 10 is configured to classify orders into the manualpicking order, the goods-to-person picking order and the mixed order.The manual picking order merely involves the goods in the manual pickingrack area, the goods-to-person picking order merely involves the goodsin the robot picking rack area, and the mixed order involves both thegoods in the manual picking rack area and the goods in the robot pickingrack area. For the mixed order, under the control of the control system,the person-to-goods picking mode and the goods-to-person picking modeare used in series to complete the goods picking for the mixed order inthe relay manner, where the person-to-goods picking mode is used tocomplete picking for the goods in the manual picking rack area and thegoods-to-person picking mode is used to complete picking for the goodsin the robot picking rack area.

Specifically, goods involved in each order belong to their respectivecategories. The goods are either placed in the manual picking rack areaor placed in the robot picking rack area. The control system classifiesthe orders based on the categories of all the goods involved in eachorder. In condition that all the goods involved in the order are placedin the manual picking rack area, the order is classified as the manualpicking order. In condition that the order merely involves the goods inthe robot picking rack area, the order is classified as thegoods-to-person picking order. In condition that the order involves boththe goods in the manual picking rack area and the goods in robot pickingrack area, the order is classified as the mixed order.

In one example, the control system does not perform an explicit orderclassification operation; instead, the control system links an order tobe processed with a certain container and a certain auxiliary pickuptool for manual goods picking. Regardless of the type of the orders,corresponding containers are placed on one auxiliary pickup tool formanual goods picking and the one auxiliary pickup tool for manual goodspicking is transported to the manual picking rack area. In the manualpicking rack area, one picking person performs goods picking for relatedorders according to printed paper orders or orders indicated by anelectronic tool, that is, the one picking person performs goods pickingfor the orders (containers) which involve the goods in the manualpicking rack area and puts aside the orders (containers) that do notinvolve the goods in the manual picking rack area. Preferably, after allthe containers (orders) which involve the goods in the manual pickingrack area on the one auxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking areprocessed, the one auxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking istransported to one operating position to perform goods picking fororders which involve the goods in the robot picking rack area. However,in some cases, for a certain auxiliary pickup tool for manual goodspicking, it is unnecessary to complete manual picking merely one timefor the orders which involve the goods in the manual picking rack area;the manual picking and robot picking may be performed alternately.

The control system 10 may be a computing platform composed of componentssuch as a processor, a memory, software and a network. The controlsystem 10 may provide an electronic shopping service for an e-commerceindividual user. The control system 10 may include one or more servers,and may be a centralized control architecture or a distributed computingarchitecture. The server may have a processor and a memory which mayinclude an order pool therein.

The control system also stores logo information of the robots and thesystem, order information and information about operation processes.

The control system 10 is operable to communicate with the carryingrobots 20, auxiliary display devices at the operating positions and thepickers in a communication manner such as a wireless communicationtechnology or a wired communication technology. The control system 10 isalso operable to communicate with the outside via a network.

Users may use client terminals to be connected to the control system 10via the network and the users make orders through shopping userinterfaces of electronic shopping applications (APPs). Based on theorders, the control system 10 determines the racks to be carried, thecarrying robots responsible for the carrying, the operating positions towhich the racks are carried and carrying routes of the carrying robots,delivers carrying instructions to the carrying robots, and instructs thepickers at the operating positions to perform picking operations.

The operating positions 50 are places for goods picking in thegoods-to-person picking mode. The carrying robots 20 carry the racks 32to the operating position 50 where goods are picked from or restockedonto the rack 32 by a picker 80.

Generally, the operating positions 50 are disposed around the rack area.

Preferably, a seeding wall is disposed at the operating position 50, thecontainer is placed at a position for placing goods on the seeding wall,and each container corresponds to an order. In the goods-to-personpicking mode, the carrying robots carry racks to the operating positionsand the picking persons pick goods from the racks and place the goodsinto corresponding containers on the seeding walls. When the goodspicking is finished for a corresponding order, a corresponding containeris taken away for packaging and then a new container is placed toperform the goods picking for a new order. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagramof a seeding wall. The seeding wall is provided with a display deviceinstalled thereon. The display device displays information to indicatethat information on merchandise to be picked and information onpositions of the merchandise on the racks and other information aredisplayed on a display screen. According to the display information ofan LCD screen, the picking person picks corresponding merchandise fromthe racks and scan the picked merchandise with a code scanning gun. Incondition that a scanning result is consistent with barcodes and otherinformation of the merchandise to be picked, the picking person placesthe merchandise into a specified container on the seeding wall accordingto a screen, an indicator light and other prompts and continues toperform a next task until the picking task is finished. In conditionthat the information is inconsistent, the screen gives a merchandiseerror prompt to require the picking person to perform the picking taskagain.

Preferably, a picking frequency of the goods in the manual picking rackarea is higher than a picking frequency of the goods in the robotpicking rack area.

Based on the above relay-type goods picking system, provided is arelay-type goods picking method which combines the person-to-goodsmanual picking and the goods-to-person picking based on robots. Theperson-to-goods manual picking and the goods-to-person picking based onrobots are performed in any sequence, that is, the person-to-goodsmanual picking may be performed before the goods-to-person picking basedon robots, or the goods-to-person picking based on robots is performedbefore the person-to-goods manual picking, or the person-to-goods manualpicking and the goods-to-person picking based on robots are performedalternately.

Based on the above system, in a relay stage between the person-to-goodsmanual picking and the goods-to-person picking based on robots, achanged container mode (also referred to as a changed bin mode) may beadopted, an unchanged container mode (an unchanged bin mode) may also beadopted which means to employ the same auxiliary pickup tool for manualgoods picking with accommodated containers, or the two modes arecombined, or other forms may be adopted.

FIG. 4 illustrates an overall flowchart of a relay-type goods pickingmethod 400 in which person-to-goods picking is performed beforegoods-to-person picking according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in step S410, manual picking is performed.

Specifically, containers are placed on an auxiliary pickup cart andbound with order information. The picking person moves the auxiliarypickup cart to each specified position in the manual picking rack areaalong a path planned by the control system, picks corresponding goods,and places the goods into corresponding containers.

Preferably, the pickup cart merely accommodates containers correspondingto orders which involve the goods in the manual picking rack area anddoes not accommodate containers corresponding to orders which merelyinvolve the goods in a goods-to-person rack area.

However, as needed, containers corresponding to orders to be processedin a period are all placed in the pickup cart without distinguishing thetypes of the goods in the orders, that is, no matter whether the goodsinvolved in the orders are goods in the manual picking rack area, thecorresponding containers are all placed on the pickup cart. In thiscase, during the manual picking, the picking person performs goodspicking according to instructions such as paper order information orelectronic order information.

In step S420, after the manual picking, the pickup cart is transportedto an operating position, and the bins are changed or unchangedaccording to the subsequent operation mode.

In the changed container mode, when the person-to-goods picking and thegoods-to-person picking are switched, the containers in the pickup cartare unloaded and placed on the seeding wall. The picking person scanscontainer barcodes or picking orders to enable the back-end system toestablish corresponding information of picking positions (e.g. operatingpositions) on the seeding wall, containers and order information, so asto prepare for the subsequent goods-to-person picking.

In the unchanged container mode, when the person-to-goods picking andthe goods-to-person picking are switched, the containers are stillplaced in the pickup cart without changing their positions, and thepickup cart is taken as the seeding wall to perform the pickingoperation. The whole relay-type picking system adopts the same auxiliarypickup tool for goods picking with accommodated containers (such as thepickup cart, the pallet truck with trays and the table trolley) in arobot-based goods-to-person rack area and a person-to-goods manualpicking rack area and the containers are unchanged to minimize theworkload in the relay stage and improve the relay-type pickingefficiency.

By scanning barcodes and the like, the mixed order, the auxiliary pickuptool for goods picking, positions of the auxiliary pickup tool for goodspicking, containers and sub-orders obtained by splitting the mixed order(a person-to-goods picking sub-order and a goods-to-person picking orderobtained by splitting the mixed order) are bound to established one ormore correspondences. After the correspondences are established, thepicking person may scan any barcode of the mixed order, the auxiliarypickup tool for goods picking, the positions of the auxiliary pickuptool for goods picking, the containers and the sub-orders to enable theback-end system to acquire the one or more correspondences of the abovemixed order, pickup tool, positions of the pickup tool, containers andsub-orders.

Next, in step S430, the robot-based goods-to-person picking isperformed.

Specifically, the robot-based goods-to-person picking may be performedin the following operations:

In step S431, racks are determined.

Specifically, the control system determines one or more target racks tobe carried according to business requirements, inventory information,and rack selection strategies.

In step S433, the carrying robots carry the racks.

Specifically, the control system specifies a certain robot to carry therack to a specified operating position according to a robot schedulingstrategy.

In step S433, the goods picking is performed.

Specifically, after the carrying robot carries the racks to theoperating position, multiple carrying robots queue at the operatingposition according to the scheduling strategy. The operating position isprovided with the display screen and information on merchandise to bepicked and information on positions of the merchandise on the racks andother information are all displayed on the display screen. According tothe display information of the LCD screen, the picking person pickscorresponding merchandise from the racks and scan the picked merchandisewith the code scanning gun. In condition that the scanning result isconsistent with barcodes and other information of the merchandise to bepicked, the picking person places the merchandise into specifiedcontainers according to the screen, the indicator light and otherprompts and continues to perform a next task until the picking task isfinished. In condition that the information is inconsistent, the screengives the merchandise error prompt to require the picking person toperform the picking task again.

In this way, the relay picking is completed by performing theperson-to-goods picking mode before the goods-to-person picking mode.

Alternatively, the relay picking may be implemented by performing thegoods-to-person picking mode before the person-to-goods picking mode.

In one example, in a robot-based goods-to-person picking system, thescreen at the picking position (e.g. the operating position) may bereplaced with VR glasses or voice prompts.

In one example, in the manual picking step, in addition to the abovefruit picking manner, a combination of fruit picking and seeding mayalso be adopted. That is, an operator first collects goods in the fruitpicking manner in the manual picking rack area according to statisticalinformation of the goods to be picked and then places the collectedgoods into containers corresponding to the orders in the seeding manner.

In one example, in the good-to-person picking step, in addition to theabove direct picking manner, a layered picking mode may also be adopted.Specific reference may be made to a Chinese patent application (No.201610825164.7 entitled layered goods picking method and system andcalculating device) earlier filed by Shanghai Jiluo IntelligentTechnology Co., Ltd.

In one example, every time goods on racks in the manual picking rackarea are manually picked, information on positions of manual pickingracks and information on identifiers and quantities of goods at thepositions stored in the control system are updated. Such an update maybe manually completed by the picking persons. For example, relatedinformation may be inputted on a handheld electronic device.Alternatively, the update may be automatically or semi-automaticallyimplemented by means of corresponding monitoring functions, for example,automatically implemented by video surveillance, image processing. Inthe process, an automatic speech recognition technology may be combinedor a manual error correction operation may also be combined.

It should be noted that in the foregoing description, in theperson-to-goods picking mode, the auxiliary pickup tools for manualgoods picking with accommodated containers are transported manually tothe manual picking rack area for goods picking. Alternatively, theautomated transporting tools carrying containers may be automaticallytransported to the manual picking rack area for the picking personswaiting here to perform the manual picking. Specifically, after theauxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking or reach the manualpicking rack area, the goods picking is performed manually, for example,in an order picking sequence instructed by the control system.

In one example, to update in time the states of the orders in the systemfor drive the correct execution of subsequent tasks, for two stages ofthe relay manner, after the goods picking at any stage is completed, apicking state of a corresponding order maintained in the control systemis updated.

In summary, the present disclosure provides at least the followingtechnical solutions:

1. A relay-type goods picking system, including:

a plurality of carrying robots capable of lifting and transportingracks;

a manual picking rack area, which is configured to store goods formanual picking;

auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking, which accommodatecontainers and are convenient for manual driving or transportation,where a back-end system is operable to bind each auxiliary pickup toolfor manual goods picking with a container accommodated by the eachauxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking and collecting andcorresponding order information;

a robot picking rack area provided with a plurality of racks used forstoring goods and being carried by the plurality of carrying robots,where in the robot picking rack area, the plurality of racks arearranged in a rack array with a plurality of rows and a plurality ofcolumns, and empty rows/columns constitute channels for the plurality ofcarrying robots to pass;

operating positions to which the plurality of carrying robots carry theplurality of racks and at which a picker picks goods from the pluralityof racks or restock goods onto the plurality of racks; and

a control system capable of communicating with the plurality of carryingrobots and a manual picking person and controlling order allocation,rack carrying and goods picking;

where for a mixed order which involves both goods in the manual pickingrack area and goods in the robot picking rack area, under control of thecontrol system, a person-to-goods picking mode and a goods-to-personpicking mode are used in series to complete the goods picking for themixed order in a relay manner, where the person-to-goods picking mode isused to complete picking for the goods in the manual picking rack areaand the goods-to-person picking mode is used to complete picking for thegoods in the robot picking rack area.

2. The relay-type goods picking system according to 1, where the controlsystem is configured to classify orders into a manual picking order, agoods-to-person picking order and the mixed order, where the manualpicking order merely involves the goods in the manual picking rack areaand the goods-to-person picking order merely involves the goods in therobot picking rack area;

for the manual picking order, the control system controls the goodspicking in the person-to-goods picking mode; and

for the goods-to-person picking order, the control system controls thegoods picking in the goods-to-person picking mode.

3. The relay-type goods picking system according to 1, where the manualpicking rack area is provided with a plurality of manual picking rackswhich stores the goods for manual picking, each of the plurality ofmanual picking racks has a unique number, and information on positionsof the plurality of manual picking racks and information on identifiersand quantities of goods at the positions are stored in the controlsystem.

4. The relay-type goods picking system according to 1, where a pickingfrequency of the goods in the manual picking rack area is higher than apicking frequency of the goods in the robot picking rack area.

5. The relay-type goods picking system according to 1, where completingthe goods picking in the relay manner for the mixed order includes:

first completing picking for the goods in the manual picking rack areain the person-to-goods picking mode and then completing picking for thegoods in the robot picking rack area in the goods-to-person pickingmode.

6. The relay-type goods picking system according to 5, where for a samemixed order, a same container is used for the goods picking in theperson-to-goods picking mode and the goods picking in thegoods-to-person picking mode, and the same container is always placed ona same auxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking.

7. The relay-type goods picking system according to 5, further includinga seeding wall placed at the operating position, wherein for a samemixed order, a same container is used for the goods picking in theperson-to-goods picking mode and the goods picking in thegoods-to-person picking mode, and the same container is placed on one ofthe auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking and collecting inthe person-to-goods picking mode and is placed on the seeding wall inthe goods-to-person picking mode; wherein a position of the seeding wallis rebound with a container identifier and order information after thesame container is placed on the seeding wall.

8. The relay-type goods picking system according to 1, where completingthe goods picking for the mixed order comprises:

first completing picking for the goods in the robot picking rack area inthe goods-to-person picking mode and then completing picking for thegoods in the manual picking rack area in the person-to-goods pickingmode.

9. The relay-type goods picking system according to any one of 1 to 8,when goods on racks in the manual picking rack area are manually picked,information on positions of manual picking racks and information onidentifiers and quantities of goods at the positions stored in thecontrol system are updated.

10. The relay-type goods picking system according to any one of 1 to 8,where the each auxiliary for manual goods picking and collecting isbound with the container accommodated by the each auxiliary for manualgoods picking and collecting and the corresponding order information byscanning a barcode of a cart and/or a barcode of the container with ascanner.

11. The relay-type goods picking system according to any one of 1 to 8,where in the person-to-goods picking mode, one of the auxiliary pickuptools for manual goods picking with an accommodated container istransported manually to the manual picking rack area for the goodspicking; and

in the goods-to-person picking mode, the picker and container are at apicking position (e.g. an operating position), one of the plurality ofcarrying robots carries one of the plurality of racks to the operatingposition, and goods are picked from the one of the plurality of racks tothe container by the picker.

12. The relay-type goods picking system according to 11, where in theperson-to-goods picking mode, the one of the auxiliary pickup tools formanual goods picking is transported manually along a route planned bythe control system to the manual picking rack area for the goodspicking.

13. The relay-type goods picking system according to 12, where after theone of the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking arrives atthe manual picking rack area, the goods picking is performed manually inan order picking sequence instructed by the control system.

14. The relay-type goods picking system according to any one of 1 to 8,where for two stages of the relay manner, a picking state of acorresponding order maintained in the control system is updated afterthe goods picking at any stage is completed.

15. The relay-type goods picking system according to any one of 1 to 8,where under the control of the control system, the person-to-goodspicking mode and the goods-to-person picking mode are used in series tocomplete the goods picking for mixed order in the relay manner by that:

in condition that the person-to-goods picking mode is performed beforethe goods-to-person picking mode, (1) after the goods picking in theperson-to-goods picking mode is completed, one of the auxiliary pickuptools for manual goods picking which accommodates a container associatedwith the mixed order is transported to an operating position at whichtool identifier information, container identifier information andcorresponding order information of the one of the auxiliary pickup toolsfor manual goods picking is associated and maintained in the controlsystem, and the corresponding order information has been updated toindicate a picking task to be completed in the mixed order, where thepicking task merely involves the goods in the robot picking rack area;(2) and then the goods picking is completed in the good-to-personpicking mode, which includes rack allocation, the rack carrying, andpicking goods from racks to a container on a seeding wall based on theorder information; or

in condition that the goods-to-person picking mode is performed beforethe person-to-goods picking mode, (1) at the operating position, thetool identifier information, the container identifier information andthe corresponding order information of one of the auxiliary pickup toolsfor manual goods picking is associated and maintained in the controlsystem, and the corresponding order information indicates a picking taskassociated with the goods-to-person picking mode to be completed in themixed order and associated with the goods-to-person picking mode, wherethe picking task associated with the goods-to-person picking mode merelyinvolves the goods in the robot picking rack area; (2) and then thegoods picking is completed in the good-to-person picking mode, whichincludes the rack allocation, the rack carrying and the picking goodsfrom the racks to the container on the seeding wall based on the orderinformation; (3) after the goods picking in the goods-to-person pickingmode is completed, the order information is updated to indicate apicking task associated with the person-to-goods picking mode to becompleted in the mixed order and associated with the person-to-goodspicking mode, where the picking task merely involves the goods in themanual picking rack area.

16. A relay-type goods picking method executed by the relay-type goodspicking system, including:

for a mixed order which involves both goods in the manual picking rackarea and goods in the robot picking rack area, completing, under controlof the control system, goods picking for the mixed order in a relaymanner by using a person-to-goods picking mode and a goods-to-personpicking mode in series, where the person-to-goods picking mode is usedto complete picking of the goods in the manual picking rack area and thegoods-to-person picking mode is used to complete picking of the goods inthe robot picking rack area.

17. The relay-type goods picking method according to 16, furtherincluding:

classifying, by the control system, orders to be processed into a manualpicking order, a goods-to-person picking order and the mixed order,where the manual picking order merely involves the goods in the manualpicking rack area, the goods-to-person picking order merely involves thegoods in the robot picking rack area, and the mixed order involves boththe goods in the manual picking rack area and the goods in the robotpicking rack area; where

for the manual picking order, the goods picking is performed in theperson-to-goods picking mode under the control of the control system;

for the goods-to-person picking order, under the control of the controlsystem, the goods picking is performed in the goods-to-person pickingmode that is based on robots, wherein in the goods-to-person pickingorder, the control system determines a rack to be carried based on thegoods-to-person picking order, instructs one of the robots to carry therack from the robot picking rack area to an operating position at whichgoods are picked from the rack by the picker under the control of thecontrol system; and

for the mixed order, under the control of the control system, completingthe person-to-goods picking mode and the goods-to-person picking modeare used in series to complete the goods picking in the relay manner.

18. The relay-type goods picking method according to 16, where thecompleting the goods picking for the mixed order in the relay mannerincludes:

first completing picking for the goods in the manual picking rack areain the person-to-goods picking mode and then completing picking for thegoods in the robot picking rack area in the goods-to-person pickingmode.

19. The relay-type goods picking method according to 18, where for asame mixed order, a same container is used for the goods picking in theperson-to-goods picking mode and the goods picking in thegoods-to-person picking mode, and the same container is always placed ona same auxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking.

20. The relay-type goods picking method according to 18, where a seedingwalls is placed at an operating positions, where for a same mixed order,a same container is used for the goods picking in the person-to-goodspicking mode and the goods picking in the goods-to-person picking modeand the same container is placed on one of the auxiliary pickup toolsfor manual goods picking and collecting for the goods picking in theperson-to-goods picking mode and is placed on one of the seeding wallsfor the goods picking in the goods-to-person picking mode; and after thesame container is placed on the seeding wall, a position of the seedingwall is rebound with a container identifier and order information.

21. The relay-type goods picking method according to 17, wherecompleting the goods picking for the mixed order includes:

first completing picking for the goods in the robot picking rack area inthe goods-to-person picking mode and then completing picking for thegoods in the manual picking rack area in the person-to-goods pickingmode.

22. The relay-type goods picking method according to any one of 17 to21, where when goods on racks in the manual picking rack area aremanually picked, information on positions of the manual picking racksand information on identifiers and quantities of goods at the positionsstored in the control system are updated.

23. The relay-type goods picking method according to any one of 17 to21, where the each auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking isbound with the accommodated containers and the corresponding orderinformation by scanning a barcode of a cart and/or a barcode of acontainer with a scanner.

24. The relay-type goods picking method according to any one of 17 to21, where in the person-to-goods picking mode, the each auxiliary pickuptool for manual goods picking with the accommodated containers istransported manually to the manual picking rack area for the goodspicking; and

in the goods-to-person picking mode, the picker and a container are at apicking position (e.g. an operating position), one of the plurality ofcarrying robots carries one of the plurality of racks to the operatingposition, and goods are picked from the one of the plurality of racks tothe container by the picker.

25. The relay-type goods picking method according to 24, where in theperson-to-goods picking mode, the one of the auxiliary pickup tools formanual goods picking is transported manually along a route planned bythe control system to the manual picking rack area for the goodspicking.

26. The relay-type goods picking method according to 25, where after theone of the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking arrives atthe manual picking rack area, the goods picking is performed manually inan order picking sequence instructed by the control system.

27. The relay-type goods picking method according to any one of 17 to21, where for two stages of the relay manner, after the goods picking atany stage is completed, a picking state of a corresponding ordermaintained in the control system is updated.

The above have described various embodiments of the present disclosure.The above description is illustrative, and not exhaustive, and notlimited to the disclosed various embodiments. Without departing from thescope and spirit of the described various embodiments, variousmodifications and variations are apparent to those skilled in the art.Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure is subject tothe protection scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A relay-type goods picking system, comprising: aplurality of carrying robots capable of lifting and transportinginventory containers; a manual picking area, which is configured tostore goods for manual picking; auxiliary pickup tools for manual goodspicking, which are configured to accommodate containers and areconvenient for manual driving or transportation, wherein a back-endsystem is operable to bind each auxiliary pickup tool for manual goodspicking with a container accommodated by the each auxiliary pickup toolfor manual goods picking and corresponding order information; a robotpicking inventory container area provided with a plurality of inventorycontainers used for storing goods and being carried by the plurality ofcarrying robots, an operating position to which one of the plurality ofcarrying robots carries a inventory container of the plurality ofinventory containers and at which goods are picked from or restockedonto the inventory container by a picker; and a control system capableof communicating with the plurality of carrying robots and a manualpicking person and controlling order allocation, inventory containercarrying and goods picking; wherein for a mixed order which involvesboth goods in the manual picking area and goods in the robot pickinginventory container area, under control of the control system, aperson-to-goods picking mode and a goods-to-person picking mode are usedcomplete the goods picking for the mixed order under control of thecontrol system, wherein the person-to-goods picking mode is used tocomplete picking for the goods in the manual picking area and thegoods-to-person picking mode is used to complete picking for the goodsin the robot picking inventory container area; wherein completing thegoods picking in the relay manner for the mixed order comprises: firstcompleting picking for the goods in the manual picking area in theperson-to-goods picking mode and then completing picking for the goodsin the robot picking inventory container area in the goods-to-personpicking mode; or first completing picking for the goods in the robotpicking inventory container area in the goods-to-person picking mode andthen completing picking for the goods in the manual picking area in theperson-to-goods picking mode; wherein the relay-type goods pickingsystem further comprises: a seeding wall placed at the operatingposition, wherein for a same mixed order, a same container is used forthe goods picking in the person-to-goods picking mode and the goodspicking in the goods-to-person picking mode, and the same container isplaced on one of the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking inthe person-to-goods picking mode and is placed on the seeding wall inthe goods-to-person picking mode; and a position of the seeding wall isrebound with a container identifier and order information after the samecontainer is placed on the seeding wall.
 2. The relay-type goods pickingsystem of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to classifyorders into a manual picking order, a goods-to-person picking order andthe mixed order, wherein the manual picking order merely involves thegoods in the manual picking area and the goods-to-person picking ordermerely involves the goods in the robot picking inventory container area;for the manual picking order, the control system controls the goodspicking in the person-to-goods picking mode; and for the goods-to-personpicking order, the control system controls the goods picking in thegoods-to-person picking mode.
 3. The relay-type goods picking system ofclaim 1, wherein the manual picking area is provided with a plurality ofmanual picking inventory containers which stores the goods for manualpicking, wherein each of the plurality of manual picking inventorycontainers has a unique number, and information on positions of theplurality of manual picking inventory containers and information onidentifiers and quantities of goods at the positions are stored in thecontrol system.
 4. The relay-type goods picking system of claim 3,wherein when goods on inventory containers in the manual picking areaare manually picked, information on positions of the manual pickinginventory containers and information on identifiers and quantities ofgoods at the positions stored in the control system are updated.
 5. Therelay-type goods picking system of claim 1, wherein a picking frequencyof the goods in the manual picking area is higher than a pickingfrequency of the goods in the robot picking inventory container area. 6.The relay-type goods picking system of claim 1, wherein the eachauxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking is bound with thecontainer accommodated by the each auxiliary pickup tool for manualgoods picking and the corresponding order information by scanning abarcode of the auxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking and/or abarcode of the container with a scanner.
 7. The relay-type goods pickingsystem of claim 1, wherein in the person-to-goods picking mode, one ofthe auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking with an accommodatedcontainer is transported manually to the manual picking area for thegoods picking; and in the goods-to-person picking mode, the picker and acontainer are at a picking position, one of the plurality of carryingrobots carries one of the plurality of inventory containers to theoperating position, and goods are picked from the one of the pluralityof inventory containers to the container by the picker.
 8. Therelay-type goods picking system of claim 7, wherein in theperson-to-goods picking mode, the picker transports or drives the one ofthe auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking, along a routeplanned by the control system, to the manual picking area for the goodspicking.
 9. The relay-type goods picking system of claim 8, whereinafter the one of the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods pickingarrives at the manual picking area, the goods picking is performedmanually in an order picking sequence instructed by the control system.10. The relay-type goods picking system of claim 1, wherein under thecontrol of the control system, the person-to-goods picking mode and thegoods-to-person picking mode are used to complete the goods picking forthe mixed order under the control of the control system by that: incondition that the person-to-goods picking mode is performed before thegoods-to-person picking mode, (1) after the goods picking in theperson-to-goods picking mode is completed, one of the auxiliary pickuptools for manual goods picking which accommodates a container associatedwith the mixed order is transported to the operating position at whichtool identifier information, container identifier information andcorresponding order information of the one of the auxiliary pickup toolsfor manual goods picking and collecting are associated and maintained inthe control system, and the corresponding order information has beenupdated to indicate a picking task to be completed in the mixed order,wherein the picking task only involves the goods in the robot pickinginventory container area; (2) and then the goods picking is completed inthe good-to-person picking mode, which comprises inventory containerallocation, the inventory container carrying, and picking goods frominventory containers to a container on a seeding wall based on the orderinformation; or in condition that the goods-to-person picking mode isperformed before the person-to-goods picking mode, (1) at the operatingposition, the tool identifier information, the container identifierinformation and the corresponding order information of the one of theauxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking and collecting areassociated and maintained in the control system, and the correspondingorder information indicates a picking task associated with thegoods-to-person picking mode to be completed in the mixed order, whereinthe picking task associated with the goods-to-person picking mode onlyinvolves the goods in the robot picking inventory container area; (2)and then the goods picking is completed in the good-to-person pickingmode, which comprises the inventory container allocation, the inventorycontainer carrying, and the picking goods from the inventory containersto the container on the seeding wall based on the order information; (3)after the goods picking in the goods-to-person picking mode iscompleted, the order information is updated to indicate a picking taskassociated with the person-to-goods picking mode to be completed in themixed order, wherein the picking task associated with theperson-to-goods picking mode merely involves the goods in the manualpicking inventory container area.
 11. A relay-type goods picking methodexecuted by the relay-type goods picking system of claim 1, comprising:for a mixed order which involves both goods in the manual picking areaand goods in the robot picking inventory container area, completing,under control of the control system, goods picking for the mixed orderby using a person-to-goods picking mode and a goods-to-person pickingmode, wherein the person-to-goods picking mode is used to completepicking for the goods in the manual picking inventory container area andthe goods-to-person picking mode is used to complete picking for thegoods in the robot picking inventory container area; wherein thecompleting the goods picking for the mixed order in the relay mannercomprises: first completing picking for the goods in the manual pickingarea in the person-to-goods picking mode and then completing picking forthe goods in the robot picking inventory container area in thegoods-to-person picking mode; or first completing picking for the goodsin the robot picking rack area in the goods-to-person picking mode andthen completing picking for the goods in the manual picking rack area inthe person-to-goods picking mode; wherein a seeding wall is placed at anoperating position, wherein for a same mixed order, a same container isused for the goods picking in the person-to-goods picking mode and thegoods picking in the goods-to-person picking mode, and the samecontainer is placed on one of the auxiliary pickup tools for manualgoods picking in the person-to-goods picking mode and is placed on theseeding wall in the goods-to-person picking mode; and after the samecontainer is placed on the seeding wall, a position of the seeding wallrebound with a container identifier and order information.
 12. Therelay-type goods picking method of claim 11, further comprising:classifying, by the control system, orders to be processed into a manualpicking order, a goods-to-person picking order and the mixed order,wherein the manual picking order merely involves the goods in the manualpicking area, the goods-to-person picking order merely involves thegoods in the robot picking inventory container area, and the mixed orderinvolves both the goods in the manual picking area and the goods in therobot picking inventory container area; wherein for the manual pickingorder, the goods picking is performed in the person-to-goods pickingmode under the control of the control system; for the goods-to-personpicking order, under the control of the control system, the goodspicking is performed in the goods-to-person picking mode that is basedon robots, wherein in the goods-to-person picking order, the controlsystem determines a inventory container to be carried based on thegoods-to-person picking order, instructs one of the robots to carry theinventory container from the robot picking inventory container area toan operating position at which goods are picked from the inventorycontainer by the picker under the control of the control system; and forthe mixed order, under the control of the control system, completing theperson-to-goods picking mode and the goods-to-person picking mode areused to complete the goods picking for the mixed order.
 13. Therelay-type goods picking method of claim 12, wherein when goods onmanual picking racks in the manual picking rack area are manuallypicked, information on positions of the manual picking racks andinformation on identifiers and quantities of goods at the positionsstored in the control system are updated.
 14. The relay-type goodspicking method of claim 12, wherein the each auxiliary pickup tool formanual goods picking is bound with the container accommodated by theeach auxiliary pickup tool for manual goods picking and thecorresponding order information by scanning a barcode of the auxiliarypickup tool for manual goods picking and/or a barcode of the containerwith a scanner.
 15. The relay-type goods picking method of claim 12,wherein in the person-to-goods picking mode, one of the auxiliary pickuptools for manual goods picking with an accommodated container istransported manually to the manual picking area for the goods picking;and in the goods-to-person picking mode, the picker and a container areat a picking position, one of the plurality of carrying robots carriesone of the plurality of inventory containers to the operating position,and goods are picked from the one of the plurality of inventorycontainers to the container by the picker.
 16. The relay-type goodspicking method of claim 15, wherein in the person-to-goods picking mode,the one of the auxiliary pickup tools for manual goods picking istransported manually along a route planned by the control system to themanual picking area for the goods picking.
 17. The relay-type goodspicking method of claim 16, wherein after the one of the auxiliarypickup tools for manual goods picking arrives at the manual pickingarea, the goods picking is performed manually in an order pickingsequence instructed by the control system.